A moving and atmospheric debut about love and language set in modern-day Shanghai
Ruiyan Xu Books
Ruiyan Xu, author of The Lost and Forgotten Languages of Shanghai, delves into complex themes of identity and cultural heritage within her work. Her prose is marked by insightful observation and a sensitive rendering of human relationships. The author explores feelings of belonging and alienation, often set against the backdrop of her own multicultural upbringing. Xu masterfully weaves together threads of past and present, offering readers a deeply resonant experience.
The Lost and Forgotten Languages of Shanghai. A Novel
- 340 pages
- 12 hours of reading
Li Jing, a happily married businessman, is dining at a grand hotel in Shanghai when a gas explosion rips through the building. A shard of glass pierces Jing's forehead, obliterating his ability to speak Chinese. He can form only faltering phrases in the English he spoke as a child in Virginia, leaving him unable to communicate with his wife, Meiling, or their young son. Desperate, the family turns to an American neurologist, Rosalyn Neal, who finds herself as lost as Jing--whom she calls James--in this bewitching city, where the two form a bond that Meiling does not need a translator to understand. With gorgeous prose and a dazzling sense of place, The Lost and Forgotten Languages of Shanghai introduces a brilliant storyteller, who shows us the power of language in both our public and our private relationships.
